“You never know. Maybe it will be still fun to go back to
NHL,” Jagr said mere minutes after collecting a bronze medal at the IIHF world
hockey championship when the Czechs beat Russia 7-4 on Sunday. “Maybe Pittsburgh. I don’t know.
Maybe Montreal.
Maybe New York.
Pittsburgh, I
played there for a long time. Mario is the owner. It’s better to play with
great centres like (Sidney) Crosby
and (Evgeni) Malkin, (then) this game is a little bit easier and I’m not young
anymore. I would like to score some goals, empty-netters with those guys and
it’s a lot easier.”

“New York,
I always had a great feeling about that city. They gave me a second chance. I
never forget about that. And Montreal and Canada, it’s
totally different hockey. The fans are crazy about hockey and I’ve never played
in Canada
in my life. You never know.”

At 39-years-old, he’s not the player he once was, but Jagr
could undoubtedly help an NHL team in the short-term.

It is likely that the Rangers will be hoping to add Brad
Richards and a top-six winger this summer in their quest to add more
offense.Jagr is not necessarily worse
than other free agent wingers, many of whom come with equal risk.

Consider:

Simon Gagne – Long concussion history

Alex Tanguay – Big drop-off in points in each of the last
three years until revival in 2010-2011

Jussi Jokinen – Tempting, but talent may not equate to
top-six role or pay

Of all of them, Leino, Jokinen, and Laich are probably the
most tempting, but they are also the players most likely to command rich
multi-year deals.The Rangers are likely
looking for a stop-gap solution while they wait for Christian Thomas and Chris
Kreider to arrive.

Several of those guys might be had on the cheap, but Jagr
might be better than all of them, even at this stage of his career.

On a one-year deal, it’s hard to see where signing Jagr hurts
the Rangers.As long as he understands
the situation, he’s probably as good as almost any other free agent the Rangers
bring in.

Plus, he’s got a history here and it would be fun to see him
back in blue.

- The Calgary Flames re-signed Curtis Glencross to a four-year,
$10.2 million deal.This is a little
surprising because the Flames are pressed right up against the salary cap.Re-signing Glencross doesn’t seem like it
should have been a high priority.That’s
another winger off the free agent market, though there have been no indications
that the Rangers were interested.Glencross’s
cap hit of $2.55 million may impact the Rangers’ offers to Brian Boyle, Brandon
Dubinsky, and Ryan Callahan.